tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235192212024-03-04T20:44:35.906-08:00Khmer Krom MonitorThis blog is dedicated to bring about justice for Khmer Krom in Kampuchea Krom(south Vietnam) and to disclose the true color of the State of Vietnam's dirty plan: "Vietnamization of Indochina" region.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-40671094039236754732008-02-07T19:34:00.000-08:002008-11-13T06:00:59.101-08:00The Angkorian Civilization<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwBX8lAY0LbUmLkC8me2ehTn73ctrMP1gs7D-sZB5hILmRu5P3W_5JBQlFRTdAJZ-gIxO95svN2IuOL5pRfUZuwdFE82TY8NiMfd7QDrtDwS4MGfqgKrO34HgOldmL8fq-QWdEA/s1600-h/angkorwat1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwBX8lAY0LbUmLkC8me2ehTn73ctrMP1gs7D-sZB5hILmRu5P3W_5JBQlFRTdAJZ-gIxO95svN2IuOL5pRfUZuwdFE82TY8NiMfd7QDrtDwS4MGfqgKrO34HgOldmL8fq-QWdEA/s320/angkorwat1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5164449404861575426" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cambodian History Writ Large At Angkor Wat</span><br /><br />By LESLIE HOOK<br />January 25, 2008<br /><br />SIEM REAP, Cambodia -- This country's most famous temple may be 900 years old, but the message it sets out to convey is timeless: Angkor Wat is all about glory. The temple is one of hundreds built by kings of the Khmer Empire to commemorate themselves and their empire, as well as to worship their gods. But Angkor Wat stands out from the rest -- in artistry, in scale and in popular imagery.<br /><br />One of the largest religious structures in the world, and the only religious monument to appear on a national flag, Angkor Wat has become synonymous with Cambodia at its most powerful -- when it was the seat of the Khmer Empire, stretching from the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal. The monumental scale of the temple has the same effect on visitors today as when it was first built. Angkor Wat has but a single approach: a wide stone causeway more than a third of a mile long (that's as long as six football fields end-to-end). The entry walkway crosses a moat 600 feet wide (my guide assures me it used to be filled with crocodiles) and ends at a wall and gates leading into the center of the compound. The central compound covers about 400 acres and once supported a town of about 100,000 people.<br /><br />With one central tower more than 130 feet high surrounded by four shorter towers, the center of the temple imitates the five peaks of Mount Mehru, the mythical mountain at the center of the Hindu universe. The temple walls (three concentric rectangles that demarcate the progressively higher levels of the temple), garden grounds and moat represent the soil and seas of the earth.<br /><br />Reaching Mount Mehru is no easy chore: The temple's stone steps are dizzyingly steep -- more like a stone ladder than a staircase -- as a reminder of the effort it takes for humans to get closer to heaven. And, as if to drive home the point, the inner sanctuaries of the central tower were accessible only to the king and a select handful of priests.<br /><br />When Angkor Wat was built, Cambodia was primarily Hindu and Khmer culture drew much of its inspiration from India. Most of the inscriptions at Angkor are in Sanskrit, and the nymph-like apsaras, or celestial dancers, that grace the walls derive from Hindu mythology. Later, however, the Khmer kings became interested in Buddhism, and Angkor Wat was converted into a Buddhist monastery between the 12th and 15th centuries. The central statue of the innermost sanctuary -- likely a statue of Vishnu -- was removed and a Buddhist image erected in its place. For several centuries, the Khmer empire practiced a syncretic faith that combined Buddhism and Hinduism.<br /><br />In many ways Angkor Wat is so much larger than life that the details of the temple get overlooked amid the legends that surround it. It's easy to forget that it contains nearly 2,000 feet of the finest Khmer bas reliefs in the world. Its nearly 2,000 celestial apsaras represent the apogee of Cambodia's apsara-carving tradition and provide a detailed account of court dress and female fashions during the period of its creation, the elaborate headdresses, heavy jewelry worn on the arms and neck, and flowing skirts. Traditional Cambodian dance to this day imitates the apsaras' poses and costumes.<br /><br />One of the most intricate reliefs decorating the walls of the temple's first gallery depicts the Churning of the Sea of Milk, a key event in Hindu cosmology in which the world was created by an epic tug-of-war between gods and demons. Each side pulled on a giant five-headed snake wrapped around Mount Mehru, and the subsequent twisting of the mountain and churning of the seas gave birth to the apsaras that grace the walls of Angkor Wat, as well as an elixir of immortality over which the gods and demons subsequently dueled. In this story, Mount Mehru is not only the center of the universe, but also the birthplace of the known world.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Khmer empire included modern-day Burma, Thailand and Vietnam</span> -- the largest area ever covered by Cambodia -- and laid the foundations for Cambodian culture and art for centuries to come. In a sign of the temple's importance, the king's palace was most likely on the temple grounds, although nothing of it remains today. About one million men, women and children populated the Angkor area, according to an estimate by French archaeologist Bernard-Philippe Groslier, making it the largest settlement in the preindustrial world.<br /><br />All this manpower was necessary to build the temples, which were painstakingly erected from giant sandstone monoliths hewed out of a quarry more than 37 miles away. Rather than having foundations that sink into the ground, most Angkorean temples are built on huge mounds of earth that give them their pyramid shape, the soil excavated from a moat or from one of the lakes. Some historians theorize that the blitz of building during the Khmer Empire could have been accomplished only through a mandatory labor requirement levied on all citizens, or perhaps even through slavery.<br /><br />The grandeur that marked the Khmer Empire was not to last, however. The royal city of Angkor was repeatedly sacked by the Thai army during the 14th century, and in 1431 the capital was relocated farther away from Thailand. Angkor Wat itself -- by that time converted to a Buddhist temple -- continued to function, and for centuries it was home to a flourishing monastery that attracted pilgrims from as far away as Japan, even while the former capital city nearby was gradually overtaken by the jungle. Although the Buddhists occupying the temple removed most of the original Hindu art, Angkor Wat's habitation and its continuous maintenance helped the temple remain relatively intact while many other Angkorean temples now lie in ruins.<br /><br />Even after surviving the removal of its Hindu art, Angkor Wat did not entirely escape the turbulence of Cambodia's recent history. The Western part of Cambodia in which Angkor Wat is located was a Khmer Rouge stronghold through the 1990s (the Khmer Rouge were ousted from the capital city, Phnom Penh, in 1979). Restoration work on the temples took a forced, decades-long hiatus during the wars that wracked Cambodia through the later half of the 20th century. The area was unsafe for tourists until about 10 years ago, when the Khmer Rouge signed a peace treaty that formally ended Cambodia's civil war. There was relatively little physical damage to the temple as a result of the wars, but they did irreparable damage by destroying almost all of the remaining written records pertaining to the Angkorean period. Khmer archaeology scholar Christophe Pottier of the French Research School of the Far East estimates that 95% of the relevant documents have been destroyed in the past three decades, an irreplaceable loss.<br /><br />In the years since peace has come to Cambodia the opportunities for looting have also increased, and many of the finest sculptures have been spirited out of the country and sold to buyers abroad. Tourism also poses its own set of dangers, with some temples suffering from overexposure to footsteps or curious hands. But despite this -- even as the physical structures of the temples inevitably decay -- Angkor will continue to symbolize something greater than itself. The memory of the Khmer Empire, and with it Cambodia's full potential, is unlikely to fade anytime soon.<br /><br />Ms. Hook is an editorial page writer for The Wall Street Journal Asia.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-27815428788021374902008-01-30T20:09:00.000-08:002008-01-30T20:41:43.415-08:00Vietnam’s Third Way Poses Party Teaser<span style="font-style:italic;">January 30,2008<br />By Long S Le </span><br /><br />As Vietnam’s rapid economic expansion gathers pace, <span style="font-weight:bold;">the country’s communist party leaders are having an increasingly difficult time maintaining their so-called "Third Way" model of economic development, where centrally planned strictures and market dynamics uncomfortably co-exist. </span><br /><br />The question merging over the transitional economy is whether, <span style="font-weight:bold;">more than 20 years after the launch of market-oriented doi moi reforms, a new generation of political leaders has the political will to bury the country’s communist past and fully embrace market economics. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">How the party strikes the balance could in the coming years make or break Vietnam’s the reform experiment, claim some academics.</span> Mancur Olson’s Power and Prosperity: Outgrowing Communist and Capitalist Dictatorships makes the theoretical point that in transitional economies there are certain reforms that governments may pursue to better promote economic growth and that certain styles of government are better able to create and enforce those reforms more consistently. <br /><br />Reforms that respect and secure individual rights, according to Olson, will provide strong incentives for individuals to produce, invest and engage in mutually advantageous trade, of which society will broadly gain more from so-called rights-intensive production, the theory argues. And as one might expect, rights-respecting and strong governments are most able to successfully implement such reforms. <br /><br />In today’s Vietnam, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his economic lieutenants must weigh whether such reforms are appropriate at this arguably still early point in the country’s economic development and, if yes, will his <span style="font-weight:bold;">more market-minded administration allow the country to fully outgrow communism?</span> <br /><br />For economic development scholars who study Vietnam, the general answer is yes and an eventual yes. Several economists now argue that in today’s Vietnam, many of the reform pieces are in place, including evidence that the slow but steady government grant of more land rights has led to greater productivity and investment compared with areas that have not implemented the same reforms. <br /><br />On the one hand, the current group of reform-minded Vietnamese leaders is committed to market liberalization because to date it has led to fast economic growth and helped to shore up the communist party’s overall popularity. Yet they continue to do so with an unequivocal determinism that their reforms do not challenge the party’s monopoly over state and society. <br /><br />Indeed, any activities by groups that are not sanctioned by the state are subject to criminal prosecution, as activists who last year called for more democracy and are now languishing in prison can attest to. "When leaders here say they want a socialist market economy, they really mean it … no one with any influence is arguing that the state should surrender the economy's commanding heights," said Jonathan Pincus, a UN economist based in Vietnam. <br /><br />Yet at the same time, <span style="font-weight:bold;">the party remains strongly committed to socialism, or more accurately to Ho Chi Minh thought,</span> still the underlying basis of its overarching authority and political legitimacy. <span style="font-weight:bold;">That means Dung’s administration probably won’t anytime soon abandon communism or implement reforms that would pave the way for Vietnam’s full-blown conversion to a rights-based capitalism. </span><br /><br />Instead, capitalism and its externalities will continue to be co-opted <span style="font-weight:bold;">in order to "revolutionize" the prevailing socialist order, with the country gradually becoming more modernized, technocratic, wealthier, powerful, and, perhaps finally, democratic.</span> Intellectually, the party has started to map out what this new socialist order may look like in practice. <br /><br />According to party-affiliated scholar Phan Dinh Dieu, the one party state is not in contradiction with market reforms:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">if we look upon the whole society as a unified system, then generally speaking the State does not only ‘dominate’ society, but also increasingly fulfills many service functions for society, as if to create a structure and a favorable environment for the activities of society’s members … In this sense, antagonistic relations between State and civil society will be replaced by relations of collaboration; the democratic State will be the State 'of the people, by the people, and for the people'.</span><br /><br />Party leaders are well aware of the challenges in pursuing its third way between capitalism and communism. Although this middle path is not fully bulletproof against internal and external challenges, party leaders seem to think that in time it can be. A recent example of the party’s new thinking was also presented in a recent op-ed by former prime minister Vo Van Kiet, who oversaw the implementation of many important economic reforms during his tenure. <br /><br />In responding to a recent scandal over the widespread distribution of tainted soy sauce, Kiet reiterated the party’s belief in the importance of a functioning press to check and balance their reforms, so long as reporters remain aware of their constitutional function and responsibility to the party: <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Our socialist-oriented market economy has not commercialized the press, which worries many people. But the market itself is bringing the press and readers closer. Our nation is led by the Communist Party alone, which requires the press to be an effective source of information … Newspaperpersons who consider themselves above the law are prone to corruption. Thus, the press’ activities and penalties for corrupt journalists [either in state-run or private newspapers] should conform to the law.</span><br /><br />By co-opting and integrating elements of market liberalization and democratization, socialist institutions may eventually become, and in many ways already are, more efficient with greater responsiveness in which the party-state practices "a soft, diffused and highly qualified form of domination," according to academic Chris Dixon of London Metropolitan University. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Reform blind spots</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br /><br />To be sure, Vietnam’s current economic growth has yet to be accompanied by an appreciable increase in economic freedom (ie government intervention in the economy, property rights, and rampant black market activities), political freedom (ie freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the right to organize political parties), or good governance (ie frequency of corruption in public and political sectors). <br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">So far, the poor and disadvantaged have been willing to live with the economic, political and administrative deficiencies of the one-party state</span> so long as the government delivers the basic economic conditions which allow for the creation of higher paying jobs, better public services, and a gradually improved standard of living. <br /><br />The average Vietnamese household is in absolute terms now better off than before market liberalization measures were first introduced in the mid-1980s. The question going forward is not merely whether the party can deliver prosperity, but whether prosperity is equitable and perceived to be based on merit and not on communist party connectedness or government corruption. Simply put, the average Vietnamese citizen still evaluates the communist party based on its self-proclaimed constitutional credo that the communist party-state will function 'of the people, by the people, and for the people'. <br /><br />On the one hand, the economic marriage between communism and capitalism can probably be sustained over the medium term. Scheduled privatization of former state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should help to boost economic efficiency and growth. SOE managers and workers should have no immediate reason to oppose privatization, since the process as currently defined will allow them to continue to receive some form of government subsidies and a larger share of their productive surplus. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Party leaders will still hold on to strategic industries, such as telecommunications, banking and financial services, and education and training, for third-way sociopolitical reasons.</span> Sustained state-control of crucial industries also serves as a sort of economic shock absorber. In case of a significant economic slowdown or financial crisis, party leaders can further privatize non-strategic enterprises, such as in the tourism industry, which are already driven by firms led by party loyalists. <br /><br />On the other hand, the downside of sustained state-vested interests in the economy is that the country, while very capable of becoming a low- to middle-income country, will consistently lag the region’s more developed economies in terms of economic efficiency. The preferential treatment of SOEs by most accounts has led to an inefficient allocation of capital resources and drags on Vietnam’s still vastly untapped growth potential. <br /><br />For example, the World Bank estimates that the amount of capital needed to create one job in a SOE is more than eight times higher compared with domestic private firms; the potential cost savings in transport and technical services could easily be more than 30% if the various privileges bestowed upon SOEs competing in the sector were eliminated, according to the same World Bank statistics. <br /><br />To realize Vietnam’s true growth potential in job creation and economic productivity the communist party needs to level the competitive playing field between the state and private sectors. Unfortunately there is no official policy or the financial infrastructure in place to expand small private firms into larger, more globally minded companies. <br /><br />The importance of this transformation is that, given the still relatively weak purchasing power of the average Vietnamese domestic consumer, higher incomes at this early phase of development will in the main come from export-oriented activities. Until these reforms take place, Vietnam will continue to be marked by inequality, expressed in recent political protests and labor strikes, which slowly but surely are from below eating away at the country’s socialist fabric. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Vietnam’s communist party leaders will find it increasingly difficult to reconcile their current marriage between communism and capitalism. As the population becomes more economically empowered, party cadres assertions that the party-state is equivalent to a democratic state of the people, by the people, and for the people will ring increasingly hollow.<span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span> And any move back towards the socialist redistribution system to address emerging issues of inequality will just as likely be rejected by the very masses they would be designed to help but who are unwilling to revert to the party’s inefficient centrally planned old ways. <br /><br />For Vietnam’s communist party leadership, this is the limitation and contradiction of their hoped for third way which if not resolved could in the end be its eventual undoing. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">source: Asia Times Online</span>Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-91292333330851670632007-12-02T20:37:00.000-08:002007-12-02T21:08:17.424-08:00Hanoi Regime Continues to Hang on to Powerby KKM Writer<br />12/03/07<br /><br />In particular the US and as well as the free world have so far been buying into the communists that the only policy toward the communist countries is 'engagement'.<br /><br />This policy is clearly not working with the communist Vietnam. Vietnam is more powerful than ever before their economic liberalization. Since its acceptance to ASEAN, APEC, and most importantly the WTO membership, Vietnam is economically somewhat self-dependent. Of recent events that Vietnam was offered a UN Security Council seat, Vietnam is on a roller-coaster ride on its repressive and corrupt regime.<br /><br />Khmer-Krom people in the Mekong delta is clearly a victim of Vietnam's newly-gained clout over world affairs and its influence. <br /><br />While Vietnam authorities are boasting their bogus successes and rhetorics at the United Nations, the Khmer-Krom people continue to face dire poverty, landlessness, religious oppression, political disappearance, eco-soc decay, and intimidations and harassments. <br /><br />Khmer-Krom children are dropping out of school and the few Khmer-Krom graduates are facing high rate of unemployment. Khmer-Krom young and old are leaving their traditional towns and villages in search of employment in the Vietnamese-concentrated towns and cities.<br /><br />Khmer-Krom's future is looking very bleak, while Vietnam is celebrating its success to continue its oppression against its ordinary citizens, including the indigenous Khmer-Krom in the Mekong Delta.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-44468318509656114392007-07-08T13:08:00.000-07:002007-07-08T13:14:26.175-07:00Cambodia: Khmer Krom monks fearful after abbot disappearsLast Updated 04/07/2007, 20:25:31<br />ABC Radio Australia <br /><br /><strong>The disappearance of a high-profile abbot in Cambodia, Venerable Tim Sakhorn, has evoked grave concern among ethnic Khmer Krom communities around the world.</strong><br /><br />The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior says the abbot has voluntarily left Cambodia for southern Vietnam, but his family denies it, saying he has no reason to return as he has been head of his pagoda in Cambodia for years and fears persecution in his Vietnamese homeland.<br /><br />The abbot of Phnom Den pagoda in Takeo province was defrocked last week by the supreme patriarch of Buddhist monks in Cambodia, Venerable Tep Vong, for an alleged attempt to undermine the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia.<br /><br />The Khmer Krom are an ethnic minority group living in the Mekong Delta regions of southern Vietnam and Cambodia which used to belong to Cambodia before Vietnam acquired it under French colonialism.<br /><br />The head of the Khmer Krom Buddhist Association, Venerable Yin Sin, told Radio Australia's Khmer News that <strong>four monks have already fled Vietnam, through Cambodia and now on to Thailand, through fear of persecution, and another 11 have gone into hiding.</strong><br /><br /><strong>"The Khmer Krom have been living in fear, some have left Vietnam for safety reason, and now they are being followed," he said.</strong><br />The head of the Khmer Krom community in Cambodia, Thach Setha, also expressed concern after the Cambodia Daily newspaper quoted a statement by the Cambodian supreme patriarch saying that defrocking another 11 Khmer Krom monks was possible.<br /><br />Venerable Tep Vong said the monks could be drefrocked if found to have been involved in a violent brawl with local monks in April this year during a march protesting the Vietnam government's oppression of the ethnic Khmer who live in neighbouring Vietnam.<br /><br />A spokesperson for the Cambodian Ministry of Interior said the ministry was not aware of the threat to defrock another 11 monks, but said once defrocked, the monks would lose their immunity from prosecution.<br /><br />They could then be charged for any alleged crime or any activity deemed to be illegal or harming national security.<br /><br />Cambodia's Khmer community leader Thach Setha told Radio Australia's Khmer News the community is seeking help from international human rights groups, as well diplomats, in citing Cambodia for political oppression.<br /><br />Vietnam has recently been cited by human rights groups for political oppression of the Khmer Krom.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-20817813784190712092007-07-02T15:19:00.000-07:002008-11-13T06:00:59.375-08:00Vietnam's History of Encroachment on Its Neighbours: Kampuchea(Cambodia) and Lao<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXmPjNDHmDvDdka5e_VOFdXq3U0tiuVeWCaQaO6o831VjfHYWIK_niWqouvX_0iWetSkV4idK3zPKA09vZMl4JT874N4z_vLMGz8wc6f7FnRnPj6YW7brcwiBBUSrweWd5I8G4g/s1600-h/Bikkhu+Tim+Sakhorn.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXmPjNDHmDvDdka5e_VOFdXq3U0tiuVeWCaQaO6o831VjfHYWIK_niWqouvX_0iWetSkV4idK3zPKA09vZMl4JT874N4z_vLMGz8wc6f7FnRnPj6YW7brcwiBBUSrweWd5I8G4g/s320/Bikkhu+Tim+Sakhorn.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5082738349778076034" /></a><br />by KKM Freedom Writer<br />July 2, 2007<br /><br />On June 30, 2007, the chief Buddhist monk--Nuon Nget of Takeo province, Cambodia, under the authorization by Cambodia's Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong and Hanoi's political influence, had illegally defrocked a Khmer-Krom's Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn, an Abbot of Phnom Den temple in Takeo.<br /><br />The Hanoi's regime and the Phnom Penh's regime are allegedly accusing Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn as a figurehead of Khmer-Krom monks in Cambodia to cause political rip of the good relationship enjoying by Cambodia's communists and Vietnam's commists today. <br /><br />The 1989 Withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Cambodia is fruitful or not one must analyze in detail. To many Khmers' eyes and ears, the Hanoi-regime's influence on the Phnom Penh's communist never relinquish from the start. Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese communist leader, who has seeded in Khmer mainland (Cambodia) as well in Lao, the Vietnamese agents in all levels to carry ou the <strong>Vietnamization strategy of Indochina</strong>. Today Lao, the Vietnamese sons and daughters have silently occupied the key governments positions, and departments. With Laotian names but his/her blood is biologically Vietnamese. The only obstacle to Vietnamization of Lao is the Hmong's cause for independence from the Viet-Lao government. The Laotian current regime is determined to eradicate the Hmong's resistance at all costs.<br /><br />In Cambodia today, the situation is no different from Lao. Chief of Cambodia's National Police - Hok Lundy is truely of Vietnamese origin who works closely with PM Hun Sen of Cambodia.<br /><br />The few Khmer-Kroms in Cambodia who have fled their homeland--the Mekong delta (or Kampuchea Krom)under the Vietnamese' oppressions, are now being rounded-up by the Hanoi-backed Phnom Penh goverment as conducting illegal activities to free "Khmer-Krom".<br /><br />The Khmer-Krom are truly stateless and nationless and the world still does not understand Khmer-Krom's plight? What is the price and how many more Khmer-Krom's life need to be sacrificed to the inhumane Vietcongs, before the world starts to realize our Khmer-Krom sufferings?Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-3866648467129669062007-06-28T11:10:00.000-07:002007-06-28T11:11:26.228-07:00Vietnam and Communism's Victimsby Mike Benge <br />June 18, 2007 01:00 PM EST<br /><br />Last Tuesday, June 12, President Bush spoke at the dedication of the Victims of Communism Memorial that honors the memories of those killed in communist regimes. He said their deaths should remind the American public "evil is real and must be confronted." Ironically, this Friday, June 22, President Bush will honor the president of a tyrannical communist regime that murdered over a million Vietnamese and ethnic minorities with a White House visit during which he has the opportunity to confront that evil. <br /><br />Recently, dozens of democracy activists, journalists, cyber-dissidents and Christian and other religious leaders were arrested and imprisoned by the Vietnamese communists. Congressional leaders and human-rights groups have charged Hanoi with "unbridled human-rights abuses," the "worst wave of oppression in 20 years." Those recently arrested are but a few of the hundreds of political and religious prisoners in Vietnam; some have been tried, while those less visible simply "disappeared." This mounting crackdown is a deliberate diplomatic slap in the face of the United States. <br /><br />Hanoi brazenly aired on TV the kangaroo court trial of Thaddeus Nguyen Van Father Ly, who was muzzled during the proceedings. In Vietnamese, the colloquial phrase for censorship is "bit mieng" -- to cover the mouth. The picture of Father Ly's muzzling seems a literal enactment of an old cliche. Denied representation, Father Ly was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. <br /><br />Mr. Bush's endorsement for Hanoi's admission into the World Trade Organization at last year's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Hanoi, the removal of Vietnam from listed as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), and the granting of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) were all predicated on the Communist Party substantially improving its human-rights record. <br /><br />It should come as no surprise that after the granting of these privileges, the Vietnamese communists continued and intensified their repression. <br /><br />Though Vietnam professes great strides in religious freedom, one must look under the veneer to seek the truth. For example, in 2006, the Vietnamese government claimed that "25 denominations" had received certificates to carry on religious activities, when in fact they were only individual house churches. <br /><br />The price of these certificates is the surrender of religious freedom. The church must submit to the central Bureau of Religious Affairs (CBA) a list of the names and addresses of members, and only those approved by the CBA can attend services. All sermons must be approved by the CBA, and all sermons, including those of minorities, must be given in Vietnamese. Pastors and priests can neither deviate from the approved sermon nor proselytize, and the CBA police monitor all services. <br /><br />Montagnards, Hmong and other Christians, Khmer Krom Monks, members of the Cao Dai faith, and Hoa Hao are still relentlessly persecuted. This is what Hanoi calls religious freedom, and the U.S. administration was naive enough to believe them and removed them from the Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list of countries that suppress religious freedom. <br /><br />Recently, the Vietnamese communist regime demanded of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues the cancellation of scheduled films to be screened at the May 22 forum. One film, "Hunted Like Animals," sponsored by the Hmong-Lao Human Rights Council depicted the genocide against the Hmong, and the other film depicted human-rights abuses against the Khmer Krom by the Vietnamese communists. It should come as no surprise that the United Nations acquiesced to the demands of the repressive Hanoi regime. <br /><br />Reminiscent of the days of slavery in the "Old South," Montagnards who flee from repression in the Central Highlands are hunted down like wild animals. Vietnam pays bounties to Cambodian police for every Montagnard they catch and turn over to them. Vietnam considers refugees seeking asylum in another country to have violation its national security, punishable by imprisonment for up to 15 years. <br /><br />Recently, three Montagnards were arrested by Cambodian police and charged with "human trafficking" for the so-called crime of aiding other Montagnards to flee the repression in Vietnam via the Montagnards' "underground railroad." Although Cambodia does little to stop the trafficking of children for prostitution, the communist regime is prosecuting these Montagnards on Vietnam's request in hopes it will convince the U.S. it is serious about trafficking. Vietnam pulls the strings of the marionette Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. <br /><br />Reports continue from behind the curtain of silence drawn around the Central Highlands of the torture and deaths of Montagnard Christians. During a February trip to Hanoi, Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, told a press conference that the Vietnamese officials assured her that Montagnards can freely travel to the Embassy in Hanoi or the Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City to voice any grievances.<br /><br />She said Montagnards should stay in Vietnam and not seek asylum in Cambodia. Given the Vietnamese communists history of repression and broken promises, how can Mrs. Sauerbrey be naive enough to believe Montagnards suffering persecution would ever to be allowed through the phalanx of Vietnamese police surrounding the U.S. Embassy and Consulate? <br /><br />As predicted, Hanoi has announced the release of a few token high-profile political prisoners in an attempt to smooth the way for the arrival of Vietnam's President Triet, and in hopes of placating President Bush, the State Department and Congress. Can this administration be gullible enough to fall for yet another charade by the Vietnamese communists? <br /><br />President Bush, keeping faith in the spirit of the Victims of Communism Memorial that "evil is real and must be confronted," should demand of Vietnam's president the release of all of the hundreds of political prisoners including those recently arrested and the more than 350 Christian Montagnards that seem to have been forgotten by this administration. <br /><br />Mike Benge is an advocate for human rights and religious freedom in South East Asia.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-34723219226624455212007-06-21T20:11:00.000-07:002007-06-21T21:20:36.468-07:00The Vietnamese communist leader Nguyen Minh Triet's visit to the USJune 21, 2007<br />by KKM Freedom Writer<br /><br />The communist regime of Vietnam is trying to imitate the communist China's path: "building a powerful economy and then walk away from the West, in particular the US on human rights". Today China, based on its powerful economy, is trying make friends with nations that the free world considers rogue nations--namely Sudan, Burma, Iran, etc. It is a tragedy that the world continues to empower the communist China, while its regime continue to silence and oppress its own people in the name of human rights. <br /><br />Vietnam is walking on the similar steps as today China. It is the greedy bosses of the West that see profits over long-term survival of the free world. What is really the role of these transnational corporations? These transnational corporations certainly do not possess the moral responsibility to better humanity but themselves. <br /><br />And then what is the role of the free world political leaders such as the US, Japan, UK, France, Canada, Australia, etc? To grant these rogue states and/or the communist regimes into WTO is already a tragic cause for humanity--analogously "to feed a hungry tiger!" The Rises of China is the Rise of communism. The Rises of Vietnam is so too the Rise of communism. Do not forget that Vietnamese communists are making trips back and forth to Beijing and Havana, while trying to steal technological know-hows and economic well-being from the West--in particular from the US and Europe.<br /><br />The free world is too preoccupied with fighting terrorism, while allowing communism slipping through the cracks. The revival of communism in China is evidenced, per its build-up of military capabilities from its economic growth. Not only that, China today is to overcast a cloud over entire Asia, if not the world yet.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-41812475529318092762007-05-25T21:41:00.000-07:002007-05-30T16:39:00.396-07:00Stateless Khmer-Kroms from the Mekong DeltaMay 25, 2007<br />by KKM Staff<br /><br />Is there a place on the planet Earth for Khmer-Krom? Currently, the answer is no! Khmer-Krom's homeland (the Mekong Delta) is currently being colonized by the state of Vietnam. The repressive Vietnamese colonizers have so far destroyed the social fabric and way-of-life that were deep-rooted in Khmer-Krom society. Khmer-Krom's traditional farmlands have mostly owned by the Vietnamese. Traditional ceremonies which have been practised by Khmer-Krom for centuries slowly abandoned due to State's strict policies and due to lack of younger generation to carry it forward. Many Khmer-Krom young have now left their traditional villages and towns for the odd jobs in the Vietnamese urban cities.<br /><br />Khmer-Krom's origin is the Funan's people. The state of Funan was then amalgamated with Chenla state to establish Kampuchea (today Cambodia). Since the southern expansion of the Vietnamese north from southern China, Khmer-Krom's homeland have slowly fallen under the domination of the Vietnamese newcomers.<br /><br />Today, very few Khmer-Kroms own lands and properties and become slaves in their homeland. Most of them are equipped with very little education. Most don't even speak/write their own Khmer language, due to lack of access. Even if they go to school they can only learn in Vietnamese. <br /><br />Khmer-Krom are truly stateless. In their homeland--the Mekong delta(south Vietnam), the Vietnamese refer to them as "nguoi Mien" meaning Khmer people in Vietnamese language. While in Cambodia, Khmer-Kroms are called Khmer, but not legally binding as Khmer citizen. They do not receive proper legal status. Even if they do they must agree to give up their place of origin. <strong>They must declare that they were born in Cambodia instead. </strong><br /><br />Because Khmer-Krom are called Khmer loosely by Cambodia, the world do not consider them as refugee even though they fled their homeland, mostly due to political reasons.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-58362615619187419572007-05-16T18:01:00.000-07:002007-05-16T18:05:00.203-07:00Vietnam crackdown sparks call to actionPosted on May 14, 2007 | by Tom Strode<br /><br />WASHINGTON (BP)--The United States should compel Vietnam to reverse its crackdown on human rights that occurred after the communist regime received favorable treatment from Washington, witnesses said at a recent congressional hearing.<br /><br />Southern Baptist church-state specialist Richard Land testified on behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, reiterating the panel's recommendation that Vietnam be returned to a list of the world's worst violators of religious liberty and urging Congress to support human rights in the Southeast Asian country.<br /><br />White House and congressional leaders also have protested the renewed suppression.<br /><br />Vietnam made some improvements in its policies regarding religious expression and other human rights during the previous 18 months, but it renewed some repressive practices in February, according to testimony May 10 to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. The regime's crackdown resulted in lengthy prison sentences for several peaceful, pro-democracy activists, the panel was told.<br /><br />This repression followed on the heels of some foreign policy victories for the Vietnamese government. In November, the U.S. State Department announced it had removed Vietnam from its "countries of particular concern" (CPCs), a designation for particularly severe violators of religious freedom. In December, Congress approved Permanent Normal Trade Relations for Vietnam. In January, the country officially was accepted into the World Trade Organization.<br /><br />Vietnam "is a country with a rapidly liberalizing economy and yet still a repressive -– and sometimes brutal –- government," said Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.<br /><br />Diem Do, chairman of the Vietnam Reform Party, told caucus members the removal of CPC designation, as well as the attainment of PNTR status and entry into the WTO, gave Vietnam, in effect, all it "cherished" and enabled the regime's leaders to "consolidate their power."<br /><br />The government "tolerated the democracy movement, and now that tolerance is no longer needed," he said.<br /><br />Land re-emphasized the USCIRF's displeasure with the State Department's removal of Vietnam from the CPC list. Only eight days before his testimony, the commission had urged in its annual report the return of the regime to that designation.<br /><br />Removing CPC status for Vietnam "was not fully warranted by the facts on the ground" and was premature, Land said at the hearing. The State Department "looked at the situation in Vietnam, and they saw a glass that was half full, and we see a glass that's half-empty and may be getting more empty," he said.<br /><br />The lifting of Vietnam's CPC designation "was too soon, we argued at the time, to determine whether promises of religious freedom improvement and legal reforms would last beyond Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization," Land said. "Sadly, it appears that they did not."<br /><br />Vietnam desires "American investment to expand its economy as rapidly as it wants to, and so as long as we have bilateral relations with Vietnam we can make human rights concerns and make religious freedom concerns part of the dialogue if we want to," Land said. "I think that's the choice that we face as a government. Will our policy be to de-couple these or to couple them? And we would strongly urge for the sake of the Vietnamese people and for the sake of their future that these would continue to be coupled and coupled even more closely than they are now."<br /><br />On the same day as the hearing, the White House released a statement protesting Vietnam's incarceration of democracy advocates and its recent action to keep people from visiting a member of Congress at the U.S. ambassador's home. Press Secretary Tony Snow said such suppression "is anachronistic and out of keeping with Vietnam's desire to prosper, modernize and take a more prominent role in world affairs."<br /><br />The House of Representatives voted unanimously May 2 for legislation condemning the crackdown. The bill, H.R. 243, deplores the Vietnamese government's limitations on freedom of speech, religion and association. It also questions Vietnam's fitness for membership on the U.N. Security Council without change. The House voted 404-0 for the measure, which is sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, R.-N.J.<br /><br />Diem Do told caucus members that the democracy movement in his country has "more determination and strength than ever before," despite what he described as "32 years of continuous persecution and brutal reign of terror."<br /><br />"Never before [have] the communist authorities seen such a grassroots movement represented by so many independent political parties and organizations openly challenging their rule," he said. "It is no longer the question of if democracy will triumph in Vietnam, but when."<br /><br />Land called for Congress to maintain supervision of the human rights dialogue between Washington and Hanoi. He urged U.S. funds devoted to a development program be targeted for ethnic minorities, whose property rights and religious liberty are being restricted. Land also called on corporations with a presence in Vietnam to work for the advance of human rights.<br /><br />Do encouraged the United States to press Vietnam to release several democracy advocates from prison and to urge the regime to stop jamming the signals of Radio Free Asia.<br /><br />Land named as particular targets of government repression ethnic minority Protestants in the Central Highlands region and Northwest provinces, Hmong Protestants, Vietnamese Mennonites, Khmer Buddhists and leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church.<br /><br />He said the USCIRF has requested a visit to Vietnam as early as this summer.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1171946275244248022007-02-19T20:14:00.000-08:002007-02-19T20:42:29.556-08:00Tribute to Mr. Son Tuon--Former Leader of KKFSource: KKN<br />February 19,2007<br /><br />It is with great sad news to receive the pass-away of a young Khmer Krom leader, Mr. Son Tuon. Mr. Son Tuon held a master degree in Aerospace and had worked for Boeing Aerospace as a senior engineer, prior to his illness. <br /><br />Mr. Son Tuon also served in Para army (backed by the US) during his time spent in the refugee camp along Cambodia-Thailand border, to free Cambodia from the Vietnamese' occupation. <br /><br />Mr. Son Tuon composed many Khmer patriotic songs dedicated to the sufferings of Khmer Krom in the homeland of Kampuchea-Krom (the Delta Mekong), south Vietnam.<br /><br />The greatest achievement of all was his involvement with the creation the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation(KKF). During his leadership, he had led Khmer Krom to the UN's indigenous peoples forum in 2004. He was instrumental to the successes of the KKF and its future's goals. During his sick time in bed, Mr. Son Tuon was serving as KKF's senior advisor.<br /><br />Mr. Son Tuon and with today KKF's leaders have paved a roadmap to Kampuchea Krom: our homeland.<br /><br />We thank Mr. Son Tuon for his service and great cause for Khmer Krom's survival. Mr. Son Tuon will be missed by all.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1155388189581198352006-08-12T06:01:00.000-07:002006-08-12T06:14:06.296-07:00CARE Denmark Helps Khmer-Krom Women<strong>In Vietnam’s Long Phu district, the humanitarian aid organization CARE Denmark is working to help the poor Khmer ethnic women by improving their farming skills and their knowledge on family care.<br /></strong><br />By <a href="mailto:theis@scandmedia.com">Theis Broegger</a><br />ScandAsia 2006-08-12<br /><br />Lately many of the poor women from the Khmer ethnic minority in the district of Long Phu in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang[Khleang in Khmer] have been benefiting from special training offered through a project funded by the help organization CARE Denmark.<br /><br />The training has helped improve the Khmer-Krom women’s farming skills as well as their knowledge on family care. The project – officially named the Participatory Community Development (PACODE) – has set up 124 groups with more than 2,000 members. The members are all Khmer-Krom women from the communes An Hiep, Thuan Hoa, Truong Khanh, and Lich Hoi Thuong. The groups meet regularly to learn about safe water, environmental hygiene, and community health care under the instruction of PACODE lecturers.<br /><br />The Khmer Krom women also share skills concerning farming and raising animals. The Soc Trang province is home to no less than 350,000 ethnic Khmers[based on Vietnamese figures?], most of whom mainly live in the districts of Vinh Chau, My Xuyen, Long Phu, and Thanh Tri.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1152326867755077862006-07-07T19:38:00.000-07:002006-08-12T06:40:13.760-07:00Vietnamese Government's fraudulent scheme<em>July 7,2006</em><br /><em>source: VOKK</em><br /><em></em><br />News released from our homeland, Kampuchea Krom (south Vietnam), said that there is a new case of the state of Vietnam has committed another deceitful act on the innocent and defenseless Khmer Krom residents.<br /><br />The scheme has involved State's project funded by the foreign funds, whereby the authorities are building houses for the Khmer Krom poor. Deceitfully, the houses the Vietnamese authorities are building for Khmer Krom poor families were structured by wooden and or bamboo support mixed with cements and gravels, instead of the normal engineered way with metal materials.<br /><br />Many Khmer Krom recipients of these housing projects are afraid to live in these houses for fear of collapsing, but accepted it anyway in concern of State's reprisal for not accepting.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1152326009093939182006-07-07T19:03:00.000-07:002006-07-07T19:33:29.106-07:00Defenseless Khmer-Kroms tortured by Vietnamese Authorities<p><em>July 07,2006</em></p><p><em>Source: KKF</em></p><p>The local Vietnamese authority led by Nguyen Van Hieu has involved in the interrogations, tortures, and disappearance of the Khmer Krom people in An Giang province, south Vietnam.<br /><br />The three victim names are as follow:</p><ul><li>Mr. Chau Sok Kha born in1978, Phothi village, An Cu commune, Tinh Bien district, An Giang province.</li><li>Mr. Chau Siem born in 1971, Phothi village, An Cu commune, Tinh Bien district, An Giang province.</li><li>Mr. Chau Chien born in 1985, Phothi village, An Cu commune, Tinh Bien district, An Giang province.<br /> </li></ul><p>On May 15, 2006, the above three Khmer-Krom individuals were watching at home the VCD materials produced by Khmers Kampuchea Federation (KKF). The VCD showed the KKF members’ participation at the Fourth Session United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) at the United Nations Headquarters, New York from 16 to 27 May 2005. The three Khmer-Krom individuals were delighted and overjoyed to see the materials with hope. The three had planned to share the VCD materials with their fellow neighbors about the recent successes of the Khmer Krom overseas who have made great strides to be part of the UNPFII forum and represented the million Khmer-Kroms’ suffering voice in their homeland at the United Nations’ forum. At the forum, KKF’s representatives seeked for the respect Khmer Krom human rights in south Vietnam, and presented our Khmer Krom’s views on issues of Khmer Krom poverty, religious oppression, and cultural issues in south Vietnam.<br /><br />The local Vietnamese authority later found out the case and summoned the three Khmer Krom individuals who had possessed and had seen the VCD materials, to the local Vietnamese police station for question. The interrogation began with torture, beaten to unconsciousness and forced confessions to no longer possess any publicized KKF materials, neither listening to the Voice of America Radio in Khmer, Radio Free Asia Radio in Khmer, Voice of Khmer Krom (VOKK) radio in Khmer in the future . After hours of interrogation the three Khmer Kroms were dismissed to go home.<br /><br />On May 30, 2006, Mr. Chau Sok Kha was summoned once again and the interrogation led by the same local policeman Nguyen Van Hieu. Mr. Chau Sok Kha was detained for a day without foods or water, and was tortured to broken rips, arms, and legs. On May 31, 2006, with his family’s assistance, he escaped to Cambodia in search for protection, and is currently seeking refuge from the UNHCR headquarters in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh. On June 01, 2006, Mr. Chau Sok Kha first approached the ADHOC, an NGO of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. Next day he approached the UNHCR in Phnom Penh to seek the protection.<br /><br />The other two Khmer-Krom individuals are still reported missing. Perhaps, the two men are currently in the Vietnamese’ detention, facing the same form of torture and their lives are still in grave danger.<br /><br />We, Khmer Krom, desperately seek your immediate intervention on this matter and call for the state of Vietnam to stop their atrocious acts of violating Khmer Krom’s rights to freedom of information, and freedom of expression and association.<br /><br />We work in accordance to the international law and the promotion of human rights and peace in the region. We demand the same respect from the government of Vietnam when it comes to dealing with our Khmer Krom people in south Vietnam, our homeland. Only this current case, there are many other cases on the rights violations of our Khmer Krom people, such as the land-grabs cases of many Khmer Krom farmlands and the mistreatments of thousands of Khmer Krom blindness case in provinces of Soc Trang and Bac Lieu<br /><br />Majority of the Khmer Krom people practice Theravada Buddhism and in particular the Khmer Krom venerable monks have dedicated their whole lives to Buddhism. On contrary the state of Vietnam have forced our every Khmer Krom Buddhist monk to register as "none religion" status on their social identification card.<br /><br />Khmer Krom worldwide would like to request for all governments and NGOs to put pressure on the current government of Vietnam to immediately cease any rights violation against our defenseless Khmer Krom in our homeland and respect the United Nations’ Universal Human Rights Charter where Vietnam is signatory of. </p>Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1148928450376283572006-05-29T09:45:00.000-07:002006-05-29T11:55:58.126-07:00Khmer Krom's Memorial Day: June 4May 28, 2006<br />Source: KKM Writer<br /><br />On June 4, 1949, was the day that the former French colonial administration of Indochina region signed away the land of Kampuchea Krom to the state of Vietnam, without the acknowledgement nor formal consent of the indigenous Khmer Krom people.<br /><br />Kampuchea Krom(south Vietnam) is the homeland of the Khmer Krom indigenous people which catrastrophically and unfortunately not too many outsiders know about it.<br /><br />The on-and-off invasions of the Vietnamese north of the Khmer Krom's homeland started right after the Vietnamese completely annihilated the Champa State in today central Vietnam. The Vietnamese' expansionism policy started from the north (southern China). Then, the Vietnamese were trouble-makers and were the minority group of China. As the consequence of the Vietnamese trouble-makings, China expelled the Vietnamese from China at once. Only a few still remain in southern China today.<br /><br />Even today north Vietnam, used to belong to other indigenous groups.<br /><br />To conclude that Vietnam solely building on others' lands and waters is precisely the case. However, to this day Vietnam refuses the facts and accepts the true events of its history: that its lands are other peoples' lands and its behaviours are in total violations of the international law.<br /><br />The many victims of Vietnam's gross violations are all calling for the injustice and seek the International Law body such as the United Nations, the World Court, etc. 's to stop the violations and bring justice for all victims such as the indigenous Khmer Krom in south Vietnam. We Khmer Krom people are here not deny Vietnam, but to right Vietnam's past and present wrongs.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1144373602052521872006-04-06T16:47:00.000-07:002006-04-06T19:09:33.523-07:00The State of Vietnam indirectly kills Khmer Krom farmersApril 06,2006<br />Source: KKM writer<br /><br />According to the local Vietnamese media reported this week, now is the season of major rice harvest in Vietnam and rice farmers are facing the falling price of rice in Vietnam, in contrast to the international pricing of rice has been on the rise this year so far.<br /><br />Kampuchea Krom is the "bread baskets" of Vietnam's rice production. While the 2005 statistics indicated Vietnam exported more than 5 millions tons of rice which was worth $1.4 billions US, the nation farmers are still struggling to make ends meet due to low price of rice during harvesting seasions.<br /><br />Per Khmer Krom's impact by low price scheme in Vietnam, the Khmer Krom are mostly farmers and taken a big hit by the State's manipulated and unprotected pricing. Many Khmer Krom farmers could not make enough funds to repay their loans, even though they received high yield from their rice harvest. As a result, many Khmer Krom farming families ended up selling their farmlands and abandoned their traditional employment to seek odd jobs in the Vietnamese urban centers.<br /><br />This trend is very catrastrophic to the Khmer Krom's way of life and their agricultural business.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1143400025131691832006-03-26T10:47:00.000-08:002006-03-26T11:29:57.476-08:00Viet authorities jailed Khmer Krom and intimidating Khmer Krom in border areaSource: VOKK<br />Date: March 25, 2006<br /><br />Border area of Kampuchea Krom(south Vietnam)-Cambodia, a Khmer Krom person, named Chau Sokha, has been jailed on the allegation that he is bringing over the border from Cambodia the Khmer Krom music songs, Khmer Krom documents which related to Khmer Krom overseas' peaceful campaigns for 'Free Kampuchea Krom'.<br /><br />The State of Vietnam rules these Khmer Krom materials illegal in Khmer Krom's homeland--Kampuchea Krom(south Vietnam). The State's authorities have intensified these areas to further prevent the Khmer Krom's freedom of movement, freedom of speech and expression, and Khmer Krom's rights to their identity.<br /><br />These activities have taken place in Tra Bau village, Mot Chrouk (An Giang) province, Kampuchea Krom (south Vietnam).Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1142883439988767302006-03-20T10:31:00.000-08:002006-03-20T13:33:14.220-08:00Cambodia's King visit to Hanoi an Insult to Khmer KromWritten by KKM Writer<br />March 20, 2006<br /><br />His Excellency King Sihamoni's visit to Hanoi and paid a floral tribute to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum on March 18, 2006 is to fundamentally disregard Khmer Krom's sufferings all together. It is such a bitter pill for Khmer Krom to swallow. The King chose to ignore our call for justice in Kampuchea Krom (south Vietnam). The King chose to walk on the Vietnamese red-carpets that lay on the Khmer Krom's bloods and Khmer Krom's corpses, at the bloody hands of the Vietnamese communists.<br /><br />We Khmer Krom were hopeful for our new King when He first throned. Now we are in disarray and speechless again for the recent developments and His involvements in border signings and this visit to Vietnam. We Khmer Krom seek only the path that King Father Sihanouk day-and-night has created: by requesting the State of Vietnam for the protection of Khmer Krom and by providing the shelters to the fleeing Khmer Krom in Cambodia.<br /><br />The State of Vietnam never, in its history, once protects its neighbours. Vietnam only annhilates them and steals their lands and properties. Ho Chi Minh himself and his followers have killed thousands of Khmer Krom since the fall of US-backed government in Kampuchea Krom (south Vietnam).<br /><br />Even worst yet, the older Khmer capital city, Prey Nokor city has been renamed to Saigon and now to Ho Chi Minh city. Saigon in Vietnamese was a close resemblance of Prey Nokor in Khmer language. Here the Vietcongs had unilaterally renamed Khmer's old city to Ho Chi Minh city, whose legacy and regime is to kill all Khmers in their homeland. This Ho Chi Minh's name is literally to erase the Khmer's historical trace on the land of Kampuchea Krom once and for allKhmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1142184559593048992006-03-12T08:56:00.000-08:002006-03-12T09:29:19.603-08:00Viet's Political Games on Khmersource: KKM Reporter<br />Date: March 12, 2006<br /><br />KKM reporter interviewed a former Khmer Krom army commander under the former US-backed south Vietnam government. The KK commander who requested to be anonimous under this interview on what he has personally learned from the Vietnamese' Rach Gia labour camp, southern Vietnam. He was imprisoned after the Vietcongs invasion of south Vietnam in 1975 and after the withdrawal of the US troops. This KK commander was captured and sent to the labour camp from 1975 to 1985, and was released after numerous extortions from his whole family properties. Upon his release, he and his family fled to the refugee camp the Cambodia-Thai borders. He now lives in Canada. <br /><br />During the KK commander's training at the labour camp, here is what KKM interviewer learned from the commander about the Viet's secret plan:<br /><br />"In order to put a lid on Khmer Krom's matters, we Vietnamese must take control of Cambodia at all costs. Cambodia is the launching grounds for Khmer Krom to free their homeland--Kampuchea Krom," the commander quoted from the training materials. <br /><br />He continued, "for Khmer Krom, in order to free Kampuchea Krom, we must seek the help from Cambodia". He said, "this is no difference from Palestine seeking help from the Arab world and the Kashmir seeks support from Pakistan." He expressed regret that up-to-now that we Khmer have not had a full control of Cambodia: it is still heavily under the foreign influences, in particular by the Vietcongs in Hanoi.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1142041366708220562006-03-10T17:21:00.000-08:002006-03-10T18:20:57.550-08:00Khmer Krom refugees' letter to Vietnam's visiting PM Phan Van Khai<em>Source: VOKK</em><br /><em>March 10, 2006</em><br /><br />Khmer Krom refugees in Cambodia, numbered around one million, have sent a letter to the Vietnam's PM Phan Van Khai on his trip to Cambodia this week. The letter seeks the following demands to be fulfilled in their homeland Kampuchea Krom:<br /><ul><li>Respect Khmer Krom indigenous rights</li><li>Provide fund to many Khmer Krom schools that have been run by Khmer Krom in many temples</li><li>Respect Khmer Krom religious rights to practice freely</li><li>Permit Kleang (Soc Trang) province to conduct the Flower Festival more than the State's dictated-one day in the province</li><li>Allow Khmer Krom overseas to move freely in their homeland while visiting</li><li>Respect free press such as listening to news and to express opinion freely</li><li>School courses and programs should be allowed to conduct in Khmer Krom language</li><li>State must fund the cures of Khmer Krom's current blindness epidemic in the provinces Kleang (Soc Trang) and Bac Lieu (Polev) which is accounted for around 3,000 victims.</li></ul><p></p>Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1142039915505327452006-03-10T17:01:00.000-08:002006-03-10T17:18:35.513-08:00Viet Authorities Intimidate Local Khmer Krom<em>source: VOKK</em><br /><em>March 10,2006</em><br /><br />Viet authorities are learning Khmer Krom language and moving into Khmer Krom's villages and towns to try and infiltrate the Khmer Krom's social activities. Borders Kampuchea Krom (south Vietnam)-Cambodia, specifically in Swayton village, Mot Chruok(Chau Doc) province , news reported that large size of Vietnamese troops have been sent into the above border areas to monitor and spy on Khmer Krom's activities. Khmer Krom in the areas were forced to join Viet's committee on safeguarding the Vietnamese interests in Kampuchea Krom, by persuading local Khmer Krom to distrust and hate Khmer Krom overseas--in particular the Khmer Krom-Americans, who currently call for freedom and respect for human rights in their homeland Kampuchea Krom.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1141752612375196712006-03-07T09:02:00.000-08:002006-03-07T09:31:16.553-08:00Hun Sen is looking after the interests of Vietnam!By KKM Writer<br />March 7,2006<br /><br />This week, Vietnam PM Phan Van Khai is visiting Cambodia to ink more Khmer's stolen lands with Cambodia's puppet leader Hun Sen, and to further sign business deals to even further put more Cambodian workers out of work. This is another tragedy for a poor nation like Cambodia. This is under the leadership of Hun Sen and was quoted as saying "Vietnam has lots of goods, but lacks the market, while Cambodia has the market, but doesn't have goods" in the AFP on March 6,2006. Hun Sen as a leader, his only goal, is to import until the death of a nation. When Cambodia owes to others so much, it cannot pay back so it has to write off lands for the repayments. Hun Sen is doing that right now. Hun Sen has no ideas how to create jobs for the ordinary Cambodians, so that they don't have to depend on street-begging. So that Cambodian government does not have to depend on the foreign aid.<br /><br />Never a nation wants to import more than export, only Cambodia under Hun Sen's leadership is the case.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1141697660890234042006-03-06T18:04:00.000-08:002006-03-06T18:14:20.900-08:00Khmer Krom forced to join Vietnam-Cambodia friendship committeesource: VOKK<br />March 5, 2006<br /><br />Khmer Krom in Kampuchea Krom(south Vietnam) were forced to join a committee called "Vietnam-Cambodia friendship", as a puppet method to politically represent the friendship between Vietnamese and Cambodians. Once again, Khmer Krom have been set up by the State of Vietnam to get into their political traps. The plan is led by the Vietnamese official named Nguyen Cao Thang to carry out the implementation.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23519221.post-1141663756873034442006-03-06T08:30:00.000-08:002006-03-06T17:46:01.583-08:00Viet Authorities Stole Khmer Krom's ancient artifacts<em>Source: VOKK</em><br /><em>March 5, 2006</em><br /><br />News came from Kampuchea Krom (south Vietnam) told about Viet authorities forced the sale of a Khmer Krom's sacred site, named Prasat Phek Khney in Chika-en village, Sway Ton, Moth Chrouk province--Kampuchea Krom(south Vietnam), with the bogus promise of State's cultural preservation. Late accounts from the Viet authorities, they have been secretly digging up the site and hid away any Khmer Krom's artifacts found at the site, without Khmer Krom's knowledge nor permission. Khmer Krom have been barred from the site completely by the Viet authorities. Khmer Krom surrounding areas used to carry a ceremonial event each year, which is now longer allowed. This is just another violation of international law by means of eliminating the identity of the indigenous Khmer Krom in their homeland by the State of Vietnam. We need the UN and other world organizations to intervene and help rescue Khmer Krom from the Vietnamese' continued occupation.Khmer-Krom Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797702550853430675noreply@blogger.com